No. 22 South Florida women beat Tulane 66-56 for 20th win

Feb 12, 2017, 02:23 pm

TAMPA, Fla. -- Kitija Laksa scored 21 points, Maria Jespersen had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 22 South Florida beat Tulane 66-56 on Sunday for its 10th series win in the last 11 games.

South Florida (20-4, 9-2 American) reached 20 wins for the fifth consecutive season -- and tied a program record for the fastest team to reach 20.

Kolby Morgan hit jumper from the top of the key to pull to Tulane to 60-53 with 3:04 left but the Green Wave turned it over on their next possession. Neither team scored for the next two minutes until Laksa nailed a contested baseline jumper for a nine-point lead.

Ariadna Pujol added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Laia Flores scored 10 with six assists for South Florida. Tamara Henshaw, a freshman, blocked four shots, including the Green Wave's last-second drive to end the first half, and scored eight points with 10 rebounds.

Laksa scored 15 points in the first half to help USF to a 31-25 lead.

Morgan had three 3-pointers, 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Tulane (15-10, 6-6). Leslie Vorpahl added five 3s, 19 points and five assists.